End of the pier? Comedian Roy Hudd on why we should preserve the traditional holiday show

THE traditional holiday show might be slowly dying although some people may say it’s a part of British culture worth preserving

The traditional holiday show might be taking its last gasp of sea air[PH]

The slow death of the traditional seaside variety show is being played out in coastal resorts the length and breadth of Britain. Theatres which rocked with laughter to Ken Dodd and other big stars are padlocked or have been redeveloped. A few struggle on but the acts are more likely to be tribute shows or a man with a message for you, straight from the grave.

Entertainers like Roy Hudd saw the problem coming years before it hit, but to him it’s still very sad. “I think the end of the traditional end-of-the-pier show is such a terrible waste,” he says.

Former Black and White Minstrel Douglas Gorin worries at the lack of opportunities for young performers. “In the past every resort had at least one theatre and it was a great training ground. Singers or comics could do their craft and get more experience but it’s so difficult now for people in the variety world to get work.”

There are glimmers of hope, with Cromer and Scarborough the pick of the towns that refuse to throw in the beach towel. Producers there are confident of good business this year: more on them later.

Childhood summers for me were spent at Great Yarmouth where my aunt ran a bingo hall on the sea front. We lived above the ‘shop’ and if the sea air didn’t send you to sleep then the murmur of the numbers would.

Each week meant at least three shows to enjoy and in the 1970s and 80s I was hooked on watching the best: Black Abbots (with Russ Abbott), Billy Dainty and the great Freddie Starr whose brand of mayhem made grown men and women cry with laughter. His songs began with innocence and seriousness, and then a few bars in and it would all fall apart. You knew it was coming but he’d get you every time.

Comedian Roy Hudd saw the problem coming years before it hit, but to him it’s still very sad [PH]

On the long journeys home I’d sit with a notepad and pen and pick a fantasy line-up selected from all of the acts that I’d seen that year. (That’s right: an only child).

There were two formats for seaside variety: smaller productions with honest pros or bigger shows featuring a star name in the second half. All of them ended with God Save the Queen.

Both Hudd and Gorin make the point that the variety stars of the past not only filled the theatres twice-nightly for 12 or 20 or even 26 weeks a year but were encouraged to be seen out and about in the town.

“My bosses would even tell you if they didn’t like what you were wearing when you went about your business in the day. You were representing the show,” recalls Hudd, who made an impact as a young comic in Babbacombe, near Torquay.

And Gorin, who sang in sell-out Black and White Minstrels shows in the late 1960s at the Futurist Theatre, Scarborough (which closed in January) and at the Congress in Eastbourne, cites a remarkable episode in Sussex in August 1969 when nearly 2,000 people queued for a coffee morning hosted by the Minstrels. Around £300 was raised for Guide Dogs for the Blind. “We were treated like stars,” he says.

As well as Minstrels engagements, Gorin performed solo until 2006, working with stars including The Bachelors and Les Dawson.

Shows were usually knocked into shape within a week, though the Minstrels always had another seven days to rehearse. The money was “enough to live on and to save a bit” and it was a good life – all except the accommodation.

Every resort had guest houses which specialised in hosting entertainers. He says: “Me and another Minstrel booked somewhere to stay once and we asked for single rooms.

I’m not a fan of the tribute acts that you see at the seaside now. Anybody can do those and really, you are cashing in on other people’s fame

Roy Hudd

“When we got there we were met by the landlady. It was all a bit decrepit. There was a bed on the landing and she said that this was one of the rooms. But I said to her that the advert had stated it was centrally heated, and she pointed downstairs to a heater in the hallway. Digs were always a risk.”

He says another entertainer once turned up to his guest house only to find that the bath had a wooden cover over it and it was padlocked. “He had to pay extra to use it!”

Roy Hudd is not only one of the nation’s favourite comedians but an acclaimed actor and writer and he argues that the end-of-the-pier show was the best training you could get in light entertainment. “You had to learn to do everything,” he says. “You did your own spot and would be in sketches as well, so you learned to act.

“I’m not a fan of the tribute acts that you see at the seaside now. Anybody can do those and really, you are cashing in on other people’s fame.”

So how does the seaside stay special?

The Pavilion in Weymouth is functioning on a not-for-profit basis while Bournemouth’s Pier Theatre will re-open as a wet-weather attraction. It’s a similar story in Great Yarmouth, Skegness and Blackpool with venues offering one-night only with comedians, psychics and tribute bands.

The National Piers Society says more than 30 pier theatres have been lost since the Second World War. About 50 remain altogether, half the number that existed some hundred years ago.

Cromer is determined not to add to the worrying statistics. Its 500-seat Pavilion Theatre is the last of its kind, an annual show in an end-of-the-pier setting.

Our writer, Andy Plaice enjoyed at least three shows a week as a child in the 1970s and 80s [PH]

Managing director Steve Cutbush says: “We don’t buy in the show but we use our own people. What that does is to give us complete control of every component of the show from top to bottom – every detail on every costume to every choice of song is down to us.”

He adds that the show itself is the star, not a household name. “From an economic point of view that is quite key, so rather than blow your whole budget on one name you can make sure that the money is spread across all aspects of the production.”

In Scarborough, the Spa – not a pier theatre – is offering two shows in repertoire until early October.

Producer Tony Peers says: “We should keep the tradition, yes, but you can’t keep singing the same old rubbish. We got a standing ovation with Wednesday’s opening night and we’re buzzing.”

The package holiday changed everything, he says. “Everyone was in Spain.

“When I took over it was God’s waiting room but my growth area now is young families.”

The traditional holiday show might be taking its last gasp of sea air. And some may say that’s a good thing. Others will believe it’s a part of British culture worth preserving.